Legislation to crack down on product shrinkage introduced

On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced legislation that would crack down on corporations that reduce the size of their products without lowering prices.

The legislation, the Shrinkflation Prevention Act, would direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish regulations that define shrinkflation as an unfair or deceptive practice, and prohibit manufacturers from engaging in the practice, as well as authorize the FTC and state attorneys general to bring civil actions against corporations who engage in shrinkflation.

“Americans are forced to pay for corporate stock buybacks and executive bonuses every time they go to the grocery store,” Brown said. “And corporations are always finding new ways to charge people more to increase their profits, like shrinking their product without shrinking their prices. Our bill will crack down on this greedy practice and make sure families get every ounce they pay for.”

Brown said between 2020 and 2022, corporate profits rose by 75 percent – five times as fast as inflation. One of the tactics corporations use, Brown said in a statement, is to reduce a product’s size without lowering the price, resulting in unit price increases. Those increases force consumers to spend more money for less product, eating away at consumer purchasing power. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 10 percent of inflation in some product categories is due to shrinkflation, Brown said.

The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

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